Following the Fresno State football team’s 45-17 loss against No. 7 USC, backup quarterback Logan Fife made an Instagram post with a photo of himself captioned “Opportunity.”

That’s because on Saturday, Oct. 1, when Fresno State plays against UConn, he may have the opportunity to make his first start for the Bulldogs and complete his childhood dream.

While Fife wasn’t able to achieve a comeback after taking over for starting quarterback Jake Haener in the third quarter, he still showed plenty of promise in front of 67,226 fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

In the third quarter of the Trojan game, Haener was injured on a tackle that saw his ankle brutally roll back, causing him to fumble. He laid on the grass, clearly in pain, before being carted off the field. He watched the rest of the game from the sideline on crutches.

While Fife got his shot, Haener’s future with the Bulldogs was unclear. But after the game the X-ray said otherwise.

“It’s not a season-ending thing. Initial reports on the X-ray are an ankle sprain, not broken, so that’s good news,” Fresno State head coach Jeff Tedford said in the post-game press conference.

Fife got off to a shaky start, misfiring a short pass to an open Jordan Mims. But Fife settled down and got into his rhythm by going 11-for-11 and throwing for 140 yards the rest of the way. 

While the timetable for Haener’s return hasn’t been released yet, on average a high ankle sprain takes six to eight weeks for recovery.

Following the bye week for the Bulldogs, Fife looks set to make his first start on the road against UConn, the team he made his only appearance against last season. Fife threw 7-for-13, with one touchdown and one interception, while also gaining 14 rushing yards on four attempts.

That game against UConn was a step into achieving his childhood dream.

Fife grew up going to the Bulldog Stadium to cheer on Fresno State and it was his childhood dream to play for the Bulldogs, according to his hometown newspaper, the Tracy Press. That dream came closer to a reality when he was offered a scholarship during his senior year, making it an easy decision to commit to the Bulldogs.

“It started off with me going to their camps when I was a freshman, and I did pretty good at the camps,” Fife told the Tracy Press in 2019. “I was able to talk to Coach Tedford and get pretty close to the staff and developed a relationship through the years and kept going back to the camp. The relationship just kept building on its own.”

Prior to arriving at Fresno State, Fife had an exceptional career at Tracy High School. He finished his high school career with 6,357 total passing yards and 67 touchdown passes.

These numbers helped him earn two first team All-League selections in his three years as the starting quarterback.

Fresno State declined to make Fife available for comment after the game.

It’s no surprise that Tedford put faith in Fife as his No. 2 option for quarterback. Fife was just a freshman in high school when he first spoke to Tedford. Even though the coach stepped down before Fife arrived to campus, the two reunited this year.

“I thought Logan did a very nice job. He showed composure, he was poised… To be able to get in that environment and move the ball down the field, we really kept rolling on offense pretty well when he was in there,” Tedford said.